A Temporary Escape
by Mew Skitty
Summary: Tye Longshadow is being abused by his stepfather. After one particularly bad fight, he runs away to stay with his friend Jaime for the night. What Jaime doesn't know is what Maurice told him that made him run away.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey so this is gonna be a short story. Before I realized that Tye and Asami were canonically a thing, I legitimately thought he and Jaime would make a decent pairing. I personally didn't like Jaime X Bart just because of the whole time travel thing. However, I still liked Jaime as a character, and Apache Chief/ Longshadow has been my favorite superhero since I was a little kid. I don't know if I'm ever gonna do anything more with this story other than the two chapters I wrote at 1 AM after work one night. I just wanted to get my perspective out there as to why I think this pairing could work. The setting is before Tye is kidnapped but after Jaime has become Blue Beetle.

"Psssst. Jaime."

Jaime opened his eyes to see Tye standing above him. He jumped up out of shock. When he fully came to, he turned his body to fully face him and hide the giant beetle on his back.

"Tye?! What the fuck?!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Listen, I can't stay home right now. Can I please hang out here? Just for the night? I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."

Jaime thought about it. He knew Maurice, Tye's stepfather, was a horrible person, and that he was probably safer hanging out with him than in his own house. But he didn't want the large man out for his blood more than he already was. Not to mention that he caught him shirtless. Which wouldn't be a problem except the giant beetle on his back he couldn't let anyone see. Nonetheless, the concern in his friend's eyes moved him to the point of giving in.

"Fine," he finally groaned.

"Thank you so much," his friend beamed.

Tye moved across the room to look at a few of the new newspapers Jaime had recently hung up. He didn't think much of moving about the mess, since it wasn't his first time there. In fear, Jaime moved so that his back was up against the headboard. In his instinctive reaction, he pushed the beetle against the headboard a little too hard too fast, sending a shiver of pain up his spine. He'd forgotten that any harm that comes to it comes to him as well. His friend looked at him curiously, not realizing this behavior before at all.

"Is something wrong," he asked.

"N-no," he lied. "It's just... I kinda didn't plan to have anybody over, so..." He motioned down, implying he had no pajamas on to speak of.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Would you like me to grab some boxers for you real quick?"

"Please. They're in the bottom drawer. And can you please grab a shirt, too?"

Tye gave him an odd look, but walked to the dresser anyway. He didn't see any reason that Jaime would need a shirt, they were both guys after all, but decided to supply him with a pair of boxers and a crappy t-shirt anyway. He promptly threw both items back to him, making a deliberate attempt not to look. Jaime was relieved to be able to change with little fear.

"How'd you even get here anyways," he asked.

"On my skateboard," his friend nonchalantly responded.

"Tye," he sighed, finally getting his shirt on, "I keep telling you not to go riding around without somebody else for a reason. If you had just called, I would have gone to your house and we could've gotten back here together, safely."

Finally, Tye turned to look at him once again. He was glaring. He seemed offended, but there was some kind of concern in his eyes.

"What makes it more safe for you to go out by yourself," he questioned.

Jaime had no good answer to give right away. His reason for being safe was obvious. If someone jumped him, he could just become Blue Beetle and beat him up. It would be unlikely any thug on the street was tougher than the bad guys he fought. But Tye couldn't know that. His best friend saw the contemplation in his eyes, and after the few seconds he spent to think had passed, the anger in his own eyes faded, leaving nothing but worry.

"You know," Tye mumbled, looking away, "I don't want you hurt either. You... you've really helped me out with this stuff. And I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to deal with, but..." he paused. "You're my best friend. I don't want you hurt. End of story."

Jaime was surprised. It wasn't overly sappy and cheesy, but not something Tye was accustomed to. When they both hit the end of middle school, puberty hit him like a truck, making him the king of angst. His dad's death and eventual replacement with a shitty stepfather didn't help with that either. He really wanted to question this behavior, but wondered if what was happening was too serious to talk about. In the end, his curiosity got the better of him. He needed to know what changed recently.

"Did something... happen?"

Tye sighed.

"Nothing important."

He walked over next to his friend. He kneeled down and rested his head on the bed. He moved his arms into somewhat of a pillow underneath him. Jamie groaned.

"You have to stop sleeping like that, hermano," he mumbled. "It isn't good for you! I always tell you you can have the bed. I'll be fine downstairs on the sofa."

"Whatever," he yawned. "You're not my mom."

"Well, I think I'm being a better one than she is right now," he couldn't help but mutter. Tye perked his head up, immediately becoming defensive.

"Hey," he sharply whispered, "she's not a bad mom! She's loved me since I was a kid! She helped me the most when dad..."

"She's also the one who won't break up with the piece of shit abusing her son."

He suddenly looked incredibly sad. A sudden pang of guilt washed over Jaime. Maybe this wasn't the time to put down his mom the way he just did, even if what he said was true. He decided the best idea was to change the subject.

"Come on Tye," he mumbled. "Just this one night. If I'm gonna have the bed, at least sleep on the sofa."

"No," he mumbled. "Just being here is good enough."

Jaime was curious about this random bought of affection he seemed to have. Ignoring this random thought, he rolled his eyes, allowing his friend to fall asleep.

When Tye was finally out cold, he picked him up, dropping him onto the bed and covering him up with the blanket. It was fine. He wasn't going to be sleeping anymore anyways.

He transformed into Blue Beetle. He recognized that doing so with his friend asleep mere feet away was dangerous. But he didn't care. He opened his window and flew off into the night. What he didn't know was that Tye had come to a little when Jaime picked up his sleeping body. He slept through the transformation, but opened his eyes a little bit to a weird blue figure in Jaime's room.

"Wha..." he mumbled before losing consciousness once again.


	2. Chapter 2

Tye walked downstairs to see Jaime grabbing himself some cereal.

"Tye," he excitedly greeted. "You're up!"

"Why did you put me in the bed again," he whined. "I told you, I would have been fine on the floor."

"No. You wouldn't. Last time you slept like that, you complained about your back hurting all day. So don't give me that 'I would have been fine' shit."

He rolled his eyes in response. This bickering wasn't completely unusual now. It made him a little upset to see that his family drama seemed to be leaking its way into his only real friendship as well. Suddenly, the reason he needed to stay that night dawned on him.

Maurice was adamant that he quit hanging out with Jaime. It was probably because Tye ended up fleeing to him or his grandfather every time he needed to get away. Maurice couldn't make him cut ties with his grandfather, but he could sure try to with his friend. The mere thought of that douche trying to pull them apart made his blood boil. He thought back to the conversation that night, trying to figure out the words that made it a disaster. It was probably after he told Maurice that he would be hanging out with Jaime on Tuesday.

"You need to stop hanging out with him," the older man scolded. "He's a bad influence."

"Make me," Tye dared. "And, while you're at it, explain how you're a better influence than him!"

"Because Tye! As long as I'm with your mother, I am your father figure!" Tye scoffed hoarse swears under his breath. "I mean it! There is no reason for you to be hanging out with some no good kid rather than your family! Why are you so interested in being with him, anyways?"

Tye was getting ready to yell some more words that would fall upon deaf ears, then was taken aback when Maurice had a sharp and twisted smile. It was the one he always feared to see, for the words that followed were never something he wanted to hear.

"Is he that type of friend," the man asked. Tye looked at him as if he just grew another head. What on earth was he talking about? "Well? How long have you two been... 'hanging out'?"

Tye was shocked. Did he just insinuate that he and his best friend were dating?

"Excuse me," he questioned.

"It makes sense. Constantly wanting to get out of the house, sneaking off in the middle of the night." His tone suddenly became more condescending and antagonistic. "You could have just told me."

"Whoa whoa whoa," he interrupted, shaking from pure rage and embarrassment. "What are you saying?"

"I think you know exactly what I'm saying."

"No no no. It's not like that! Jaime doesn't even like me! He told me just yesterday he had a crush on a girl in our class! I have the text to prove it!"

Maurice gave a sickening laugh.

"You said Jaime doesn't like you but you didn't say vice versa. Be honest with me, Tye. Why do you hang out with Jaime so much?"

"To get away from assholes like you!"

He charged up to his room, slamming the door as loudly as possible. What the actual fuck was that conversation?

Upon reflection, he could tell what was happening. His mom wouldn't care if he was gay, he was well aware of that. But it was clear Maurice was trying to make him feel uncomfortable hanging out with Jaime. Challenging his masculinity by questioning him on his feelings seemed like the perfect way to do it.

Even though he knew Maurice was just talking out of his ass, a nagging feeling that maybe he was correct lingered in the back of his mind.

Whatever. Fuck him. He wouldn't let that get in the way of his friendship.

"...are you okay," Jaime asked, suddenly breaking Tye out of his daydream. He jumped up, almost as if he'd been woken up.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered. He could tell from his stare than he knew something was up. They both knew each other too well to be blind to suspicious behavior. "Listen," he quietly said, "last night something... somewhat big... happened. I don't want to talk about it."

The boy in the sweater tilted his head to the side. Only now did Tye realize he was hardly wearing just shirts anymore, covering up as much as he could. The immediate concern of him hiding any bruises or cuts came to mind. These thoughts were quickly brushed away when he discovered that he actually saw him shirtless the night before, not seeing even a scratch on him. His body was untouched. He even looked more toned and healthy than ever!

"You know," Jaime sighed, "I won't pry you on anything. But I can't help but worry that it's really serious. Just know that, if you need help with it, that you can talk to me."

"Thanks..."

As much as Tye really didn't want to embarrass himself, he couldn't bare to let his friend be terrified for him, imagining scenarios far beyond the scope of what actually happened. He decided that the best choice was to explain the situation as vaguely as possible.

"Maurice doesn't want me hanging out with you anymore."

"Figured that," Jaime whispered.

"Well, I think he's trying to... manipulate me into staying away from you."

Jaime shifted from side to side. His arms naturally folded into a cross and his eyebrows lowered.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing important! Just a bunch of bold faced lies! I just, I dunno. I'm worried that maybe mom'll believe him, and she'll try to stop me from hanging out with you, too."

Jaime rolled his eyes. He knew that the lies he was likely imagining were the idea of him being a thief or criminal of some sort. If he were being honest, he wished those were the lies in reality. Then, the other boy turned to him, looking curious and a little hurt.

"What did he say about me," he asked. "You don't... believe him, do you?"

Suddenly, Tye felt his face burn up. Of course, Jaime didn't know the context, so he wouldn't get why Tye may consider his words to be truth. But he denied the claims anyway, no matter how much he thought of them.

"It was nothing too bad," he assured him. "Of course I don't believe him! That's why I said they're lies!"

Jaime didn't look overly convinced. He stopped eating his cereal and was instead swirling his spoon around in the milk.

"Can we talk about something else," Tye insisted. "I'm really sick of thinking about this!"

That's when his friend smiled.

"Sure! What would you like to talk about?"

"That girl," Tye decided, "the one you said was cute the other day? Did you ask her out?"

Jaime looked at him like he had just asked whether the sky was blue or red. He had an inward panic, realizing that in the conversation they had the other day, he called romance and crushes "stupid." He did his best to keep a straight face, acting as if nothing was wrong.

"I asked her out. No luck."

"Ah. Bummer." He tried to grasp at any thoughts that they could possible talk about. It was hard enough to distract himself from what was going on in his head, and trying to carry on a conversation with someone heavily involved made it even harder. Suddenly, he remembered something.

"Oh! I had the weirdest dream last night."

"Okay..." He finally began to eat his cereal again, taking slow bites to focus in on his friend's words.

"So you know those dreams where, like, you wake up in the dream?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, I dreamed that there was this guy in your room. He was like weird looking. I think he was all blue? Some kind of alien?"

Jaime stopped eating again, looking at his friend in complete and utter horror. Then, he laughed uncomfortably.

"Really? What a weird dream."

Author's Note: Sorry about ending on a cliffhanger like that! Like I said in the previous chapter, this is just a little thing I wrote based on something I think could potentially happen. It wasn't meant to be this super in depth story. I was going more for sort of a side story that happened off screen. I know that Jaime and Tye will probably never become a thing in any DC continuity but I figured I'd throw out this quick little scenario I wrote to expand upon their relationship.


End file.
